


A Float in a Vast Ocean

by KyloInTheSheets



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben and Rey are dating, Ben is 18, Ben saves the day, Claustrophobia, Devoted Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, F/M, Fires, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, He doesn’t hit her, Hospitalization, Just drags her, Kylo Ren and Rey Are Not Related, Light Physical Abuse, Love Confessions, Minor Injuries, No Smut, One Shot, Panic Attacks, Rey is 17, Rey’s boss sucks, Tight Spaces
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:49:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28595013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyloInTheSheets/pseuds/KyloInTheSheets
Summary: Working under Unkar Plutt was a nightmare, but being under 18 and needing money desperately, Rey can’t quit the job no matter how poorly she’s treated. Not to mention Plutt would ruin her if she left, so it’s no surprise when he gets angry and locks her in a closet one day.Twenty minutes later Ben Solo walks towards the decaying building he wishes Rey didn’t spend so much time at only to see it up in flames.OR:Ben saves Rey from a fire, how adorable!
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 5
Kudos: 77





	A Float in a Vast Ocean

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the one shot inspired by a comments section on TikTok where people discussed the scenarios they imagine before falling asleep at night.

It was something Rey noticed over time. That on bad days at work when Unkar would yell and punch holes in the wall, the weather was bad. Gray clouds covered the sky and only a couple of rays of sunlight could pass through. 

On the rare occasion that she didn’t work that day or when she spent time with Ben, it was sunny and warm. Her tanned skin would glow in the sunlight and her smile would be almost as bright as the stars on a clear night. 

She didn’t worry about anything on these days since her boyfriend made her forget about all of them and she loved him for it. 

On this particular day while Rey was inside at work she could hear the wind howling outside. The sky was so dark it could be mistaken for night time and thunder echoed across several miles. 

Based on the pattern Rey had discovered, one could easily guess the kind of day she was having at work that Saturday. 

It started out fine like it usually did, but then Unkar would encounter the slightest inconvenience and he would be awful for the rest of the day. Usually it was something minor like a small argument with a customer but today was different. 

Among the few employees there were, she heard that someone apparently  _ threatened _ him. One had to be confident as hell in to threaten the man that was her boss. 

Unkar ran a small garage and employed Rey as a mechanic. If it was any man other than Plutt that was her employer, she would skip to work everyday with glee. That wasn’t the case though obviously. He rarely gave her breaks and threatened to keep her longer if she didn’t finish a certain job on time.  _ Think of the client _ he would say, even though she worked at a much faster pace than was needed. Weekends were mostly when she made any kind of income since there was school five days a week. She was always good with her hands after growing up without a family and having to entertain herself constantly since her foster parents neglected her to say the least.

Which was why every time she was with Ben, she thanked God that their paths crossed. She would be absolutely nobody if it wasn’t for him. Rey still couldn’t understand what made him want to sit by her at lunch when she first moved to Coruscant after getting a new foster parent, but Ben always said he didn’t have to think twice about it.

He claimed, every time she brought it up, that day in junior high he saw the most beautiful girl sitting by herself at lunch and he had already begun approaching her before he could even realize it.

The two became friends quickly but Rey found herself falling for him even faster. They spent a little over a year remaining no more than best friends before Rey finally had the urge to tell him how she felt.

It was terrifying to put it plain simple. She was scared he wouldn’t feel the same way and that they’re friendship would be ruined, leaving her alone once again. But one night their freshman year as they walked down the sidewalk after they left the movie theater to get ice cream, she told him she loved him.

Ben had stared at her long enough to make her believe he was about to completely cut her off but to her surprise, he cupped her face in his hands and crushed the inches between them with a passionate kiss. 

It was Rey’s first one but it was still one of the best kisses they’d ever shared. 

After Ben reciprocated the feeling, they began dating which led them all the way to their senior year. Rey began working under Plutt her junior year when her foster dad died and their household needed another source of income. Her foster mother, Maz, was great. She treated Rey like one should act towards their daughter which was the sort of treatment she hadn’t ever received from a foster parent. Together they didn’t have much money which was why Rey worked every chance she had. She didn’t have many belongings, just the essentials like an old cell phone and enough clothes to get her through a couple of weeks. Much of her clothing was kept at work in case she needed to change her attire since what she did was dirty work.

Ben hated the fact that she worked there and she knew it. She stated that although her boss was a complete prick, she enjoyed the work she did for the most part and would rather do that than work at some fast food chain. And on days like today, especially today, there was a part of her that almost wished she did.

Rey was finishing up a repair on the engine of a car she’d been working on for a little over a day when she heard the sound of men shouting. Rey could tell there was clearly some sort of chaos and it meant nothing to her until she heard heavy footsteps pounding towards her. 

Sliding out from underneath the car, she was met with the furious face of her boss. “Mr. Pryde’s here. Wants his car back. It done, girl?” Rey gulped. “Uh almost, I just have to-”

“ _ Almost _ ain’t mean done does it?” Unkar spat, his face growing redder by the second. 

“I thought he wasn’t supposed to come by until tomorrow?” Rey questioned.

“Well it don’t matter because he’s here now and he’s already gettin’ into it with me out there. He wasn’t pleased with your service last time and you better not disappoint him again or I’ll kick ya outta here before you can fucking blink again!” He was yelling now. Surely Mr. Pryde could hear it. 

Before Rey could utter an apology, her boss continued. “I need that done within the next ten minutes or you’re done,” he threatened. 

She swallowed. “I-I’m sorry sir, but that won’t happ-”

Rey couldn’t speak another word before Plutt turned and swiped his hand across her work desk, sending everything on it to the floor. The sound of glass shattering and metal clanking filled the area and Rey’s heart dropped at the realization that most of her equipment was ruined if not damaged. Unkar would make her pay to replace it too. 

Unkar was never pleasant but she had never seen him this enraged. Sure he got violent sometimes but never inflicted it on anyone and usually shook it off after a minute or so. But he continued to scream at her saying things like:

“YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT, YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING AROUND HERE HUH? WHAT’S THE FUCKING POINT OF HAVING YOU HERE IF YOU CAN’T MEET DEADLINES?” 

Rey’s lip trembled as she took in his words. She never dealt with being called worthless very well especially since her own parents abandoned her as well as several foster families. To hear it from another person made her heart break even more. 

“IT’S YOUR JOB FOR GOD’S SAKE. CAN’T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT, GIRL?” He shouted.

A part of her wanted to note that she was going to meet the deadline but the fucking man came in a day early, but she never had the chance because as her boss was in the middle of saying, “If you can’t do your job at a pace, then you won’t fucking do it at all,” he grabbed her by the collar and started dragging her away from her work space. She winced as her skin slid across the metal floor, leaving floor burns.

Rey kicked and screamed hoping that someone worthy would hear and come help her but no one did. His grimy fingers gripped her shirt so tight that she could feel his nails digging into her skin. He was still yelling but Rey couldn’t hear his words over her piercing shouts for help and for him to let the fuck go.

Eventually his grip loosened but Rey quickly realized it was because he had literally  _ tossed _ her into some dark area and slammed the door. When Rey recovered and sat up she recognized the area to be the tiny storage closet that almost no one used anymore. She stood, her head just shy of touching the ceiling, and tried the door handle. 

It was locked. 

A pit of dread formed in her chest and it felt like she couldn’t breathe.  _ No no no.. _

Plutt had never been kind at all to her, but never went so far as to lock her away. She wouldn’t be able to tell Ben about this either because he would go mad about it.

The streaks on Rey’s face from the tears were drying but new ones began to form as more fell. Her breath came in heavier pants again as she rattled the knob over and over, shouting for help. Her voice was strained and she didn’t even recognize it anymore. The already existing stress of her job plus the fact that she was probably fired plus her current situation caused her to hyperventilate. The space seemed even smaller than before and it felt like the walls were closing in. There was a dull ache in her chest and she felt the need to scream. 

Plutt be damned, if his client heard her gut-wrenching pleads she wouldn’t care less.

She cried and begged for anyone who might hear her but the only thing she heard were her own broken sobs. God knew when Plutt would let her out and when he did, what he’d do. Surely she was out of a job so Maz wouldn’t be happy with her. Her boss was furious with her and it seemed like she was fighting a war against the world where her loss was inevitable.

The only person she had to lean on was Ben and he wasn’t here. She was all alone now with no one to help her. Realizing this, she allowed herself to sink to the cold floor and bury her face between her knees in distress. 

A short time later her heavy panting had gone down a little when she heard commotion near the front of the garage. From what she could tell, Pryde wasn’t too happy that his car wasn’t ready and was now shouting at Unkar. Rey found herself grinning subtly. It was fun to hear the man who made her life hell be reprimanded.

After a few minutes of shouting though, there were several distant crashes. Unlike the one that Unkar created back in her work space, this one was louder. There were several pounding sounds in a row and it seemed like Pryde and Unkar were fighting. She could hear someone punching the other and more curses being yelled.

Rey’s tears were gone now; she was completely focused on what was going on outside. The fight seemed intense, as they seemed to be moving around to different parts of the garage. They moved closer to her and she knew because the grunts and footsteps grew louder. They seemed to move towards the back of the garage where she was and some of the dangerous materials were stored. 

If they got any more into it they might-

“SHIT!”

The bellowed shout of Plutt startled Rey. The tumbling sounds of their fight had halted and now a panicked Plutt sounded as he ran past the closet she was locked in. “SOMEONE CALL THE FUCKIN FIRE DEPARTMENT, WE GOT A BIG ONE STARTIN’!”

A gasp escaped Rey’s lips.

_ No no no no no no… _

The motherfuckers must’ve knocked over some kind of flammable material causing a fire to start. There were all kinds of precautions in the garage so that kind of stuff wouldn’t happen and her boss had been so naive to be the one to break them. It made her want to laugh but then she remembered one thing.

She was trapped in a closet. With no one to get her out. And a fire that would leave no remains of her but ash. Rey shot up from her sitting position and began pounding on the door again.

“HELP!” She screamed as loud as her voice would let her. “PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP ME! I'M IN HERE, PLEASE!” She couldn’t see anything because it was dark but even if she could, her vision would be completely blurry with tears. Her face was soaking wet from her cries. How could Unkar let her die here like this? Sure he didn’t like her but was that a reason to let someone perish?

Perhaps it was for someone like her. 

Several minutes later when her voice was wasted and she could barely utter another sound, she gave up. Surely no one was still in the garage and even if they were, no one would know where she was since she couldn’t call for help. She weakly pounded on the door once more before sliding to the floor and allowing the numbness to overtake her.

She wished she could die of exhaustion right then so she wouldn’t have to burn to death. Already she could feel the air around her growing thick and hot. It slowly became harder to breathe and she was close to the brink of unconsciousness. She filled her mind with thoughts of Ben since he was one of the few good things in her life. 

The dark environment surrounding her morphed into memories… images. Of Ben and his stupid boyish grin she learned to love. It on his face as he approached her at lunch in seventh grade. Them riding bikes through Ben’s neighborhood after he taught her how to ride. The first time she tried, she fell off and scraped herself up pretty bad. Ben stayed by her side the whole time as he called his mom to come help them. He held her as she cried and that was the first time Rey ever wondered if she thought of him as more than just a friend. 

An image of her and Ben sitting side by side on his bed against the headboard reading comics. They didn’t talk much while doing so but just being in each other’s presence was enough. She remembered how she couldn’t even focus on the movie playing in front of them because she was about to tell Ben how she felt and didn’t know how he’d react. The still of Ben’s eyes growing wondrous as she told him she loved him. 

And how that feeling of love grew stronger everyday. Rey still felt it even as her breaths slowly grew weaker in the closet. The memories faded and Rey was left in the blackness again. The darkness of the room slowly faded into one not due to the lack of light, but the fading brightness in her body. 

The final image she saw before allowing her eyes to flutter shut was of Ben. But it wasn’t a memory. It was him falling to his knees outside a huge pile of destruction and ash with sobs tearing him apart. 

__________

Ben walked at a faster pace than usual towards Plutt’s garage. It was extremely cloudy, the skies were so dark that it could almost be mistaken for night time. He feared he would get poured on and Rey’s food in the brown paper bag he carried would be ruined. 

Rey always told him that he didn’t have to bring her lunch because she barely got any time to enjoy it anyway and it would only enrage her boss further. Ben felt no remorse though, every time he’d walk into the decaying garage and see Unkar’s disapproving face he would just brush it off and move towards Rey’s work space. 

Despite despising that Rey worked in that old dump, he didn’t have the heart to make her quit. He knew that besides her bastard of a boss, she loved her work and he couldn’t make her leave it. So the best he could do was try and brighten her day a little more by making a short appearance. 

On this day, he was especially looking forward to seeing her because they hadn’t gotten to see each other much that week since they were so busy with schoolwork and finals coming up. She’d been so tired lately with school and work that he wanted to surprise her in some way. He wasn’t sure exactly what to do yet but he was sure it’d be special. The thought alone had him smiling.

Ben was startled out of his thoughts when a sounding police car zoomed past him, lights flashing. He didn’t think anything of it until a few minutes later when two fire trucks sped past him in a lightning motion. It was then he realized that Rey hadn’t texted him yet about what kind of mood Plutt was in or what kind of ridiculous things he was doing. It was something she did every work day; it was a  _ thing _ of theirs. 

A terrifying feeling formed in Ben’s stomach and he began to walk faster so he was almost jogging. He made it to the last corner he had to turn before being in sight of the building. The emergency service vehicles had gone that way too. 

When he turned the corner and saw the garage, his heart sank and eyes widened. He stopped walking and dropped the bag full of Rey’s food. In front of him, the place that the love of his life worked was burning. He saw glimpses of people standing outside of the place but he was too far away to tell if any of them were Rey. With this in mind, he left the forgotten food and began sprinting towards the premises. 

Blue and red lights lit up the area in front of the crumbling building but the fire was brighter. Ben had never run faster in his life; he couldn’t even feel his legs anymore. All he knew was he had to get there. He had to get to Rey. 

His breaths were coming in pants and he could barely see since his hair was flying wildly in front of his eyes. When he neared the building, he could feel the heat radiating off the fire and he was just about to see people clearly when-

“Sir! Sir, you need to step back.” 

The arm of a policeman prevented him from going any further. He tried to get around it but the man wouldn’t allow it. 

“M-My girlfriend’s here! She works here, her name’s Rey and I have to- where is she? Where’s Rey?” His eyes darted around frantically trying to spot her face but he couldn’t find it only provoking his panic further. Maybe she’d gone out for lunch? Or left work early? Or…

No. Every excuse he came up with didn’t make sense. Rey never went out and nothing would make her leave work except for being sick and _ even then _ she probably still wouldn’t go home.

“Okay sir, please follow me to wait while we question employees. Perhaps she’s over there.” The officer led him to a secluded area behind the cop cars where burn victims were. He glanced around hoping that he’d see a particular set of hazel eyes staring wondrously back at him. He did this for a few minutes and when he still couldn’t find her, he was now set on finding another person. 

Plutt, who was likely to be the cause of the whole fucking incident. 

He probably looked crazy, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He didn’t stop pushing through people until he found him. To his disappointment, the old bastard looked completely untouched. He was being questioned by a policeman and Ben took this as the perfect time to make his appearance known again. 

“Hey!” Ben shouted. Plutt turned towards him with confusion on his face. “Who the fuck are you?” He said, clearly annoyed.

He didn’t have the right to be distraught. The fire hadn’t touched him one bit and God knew where Rey could be. “You don’t recognize me? I’m the guy who brings your best fucking employee food everyday. The one who makes more time for her at work than you do!” Realization dawned over Plutt’s face and for the first time, Ben thought the man seemed terrified. 

“You’re Rey’s-”

“Yes.” Ben interrupted. “Now you’re gonna tell me where the hell she is.” 

Plutt swallowed and he seemed at a loss for words. Ben shook his head. 

She couldn’t be…

She  _ wasn’t… _

And if she was…

Then Ben’s entire fucking world would go with her.

“Look man,” Plutt started. But before he could continue, Ben grabbed him by the collar and brought the short man face to face. “Where. The hell. Is she?” He seethed. He could feel tears about to spill over and he couldn’t stop it. 

“She ain’t do her job right so I put her away,” Plutt said.

Ben’s nostrils flared. “What the hell does that mean?” He yanked him closer.

“I put her in the closet and if she were smart enough then she’d get out. I dunno where she’s at now but I assume she’s still in the-” Ben pushed Unkar away so he fell backwards onto the pavement. 

He didn’t know what he was doing until he was halfway across the lawn towards the burning building. Faintly, he heard the distant shouts of policemen for him to stop and come back but he pushed forward. To him, the fire was water and it didn’t matter how hurt he got if Rey was okay. 

Ben entered the building and immediately coughed when he inhaled a breath of pure smoke. The task seemed impossible - there were probably a ton of closets in the place and Rey could be passed out by now. 

He would break down every damn door in the place to find her and if that’s what he really had to do, then so be it. His tears dried up due to the heat and he thought he could feel parts of his arms and legs burning but he paid it little attention. 

Everything would be fine, as long as he found her.

__________

Everything was so distant. She barely smelled the smoke surrounding her even though it practically consumed her body at that point. Her eyes were closed but somehow she could still think. She was about to lose complete consciousness and she just wanted to already. There was no way anyone could help her now so why not just end it here? 

There really wasn’t anything to be heard besides the roaring flames surrounding the outside of the melting walls. A strange sense crept into her as she laid there. A sense of safeness. Perhaps it was the fact that she was imagining Ben so much and just being around him made her feel comfortable and secure.

It was almost as if he was right here with her holding her hand as she went. If she wasn’t hallucinating she would swear she could hear him calling her name.

It sounded distant but seemed to grow louder… closer. 

_ Rey _

A little closer.

_ Rey?! _

Just outside of… the door? 

_ Rey! Are you in there? _

Something pounded on the door over and over. It couldn’t-

Was someone here to save her?

Was it Ben? It sure sounded like him…

Before Rey knew what she was doing she pulled together the little strength she had left, coughing as she did so, and moved towards the door on her hands and knees. The person on the other side must’ve heard her because…

_ Rey! Hang on baby I’m coming, it’s okay just stay put… _

She was pretty sure this part was real. If she didn’t have an extremely tough time breathing, she would’ve laughed at the person’s words. Because as if she could go anywhere. The voice sounded like Ben’s and she desperately hoped it was him. 

Weakly, she raised one arm and curled it into a fist to pound against the door. She recoiled immediately at the burning temperature of the door. She’d have a few good burns for sure and she didn’t want to imagine how badly burnt Ben was, if he was real. 

The relentless pounding on the door continued for some time and Rey had fallen back to a lying position on the hot floor. Her eyes were closed as the knocking sound became muffled. After a few more moments there was a flash of light behind her eyelids and she peeled them open with all the strength she had. Her vision was blurry and she was still coughing weakly but she was convinced.

It was him. Truly.

There was a figure hovering above her with what looked like desperate eyes. Dark hair framed their head and a low voice spoke, but she couldn’t make out the words. Distantly she felt herself floating, like she wasn’t lying on the ground anymore. It was the last thing she sensed before falling completely unconscious. 

__________

After Rey had blessedly coughed loud enough for him to hear, Ben knew exactly where she was. Like he assumed, the door was locked. A wave of fury rolled over him. How could this man so carelessly leave an employee in there to die? He was going to pay for this, he would make sure of it. 

Ben was starting to get light headed but pushed on. Passing out now would be a lost cause for the both of them and he couldn’t let anything worse happen to her. He already had a few nasty burns up and down his arms that would need treatment but thankfully it could’ve been way worse.

But he still had to get Rey out. 

He hurled his body into the door several times as the hinges became looser and looser. The whole building was collapsing with every move he made so it was slightly easier to get the door off. Just before he pulled it off its hinges, he heard a weak knock from the other side and he sighed in relief that Rey was still awake. 

With a final pound of his body the door caved in and he grabbed it before it could fall onto Rey. He threw it behind him aimlessly and directed his focus to his girl lying in a heap on the closet floor. He couldn’t tell if she was breathing anymore or not and he choked back a sob.

_ Get her out _ his mind screamed. 

Without another moment’s hesitation, he bent down to secure her in his arms. Her body was fragile and warm. He pulled her lips up to his ear and he heard faint breaths. It was better than nothing at all. 

“Hang on, I’m getting you outta here. It’s okay, it’s okay…” he cooed. Part of his words was to reassure himself as well. Rey wasn’t conscious anymore as her body swung in his arms. Her face looked relaxed, lips parted slightly. She still looked unbelievably beautiful. 

The journey to the outside of the collapsing building was a blur. His vision was full of bright orange and being surrounded by a thousand degree temperature almost took over him to the point of no return. Smoke was filling his lungs and so he tried to breathe as little as possible. 

Finally he stepped into the dim light of day, the sky still cloudy. If only it had rained. 

Paramedics rushed towards him when they spotted him with his love in his arms. They rolled over a stretcher and Ben barely remembered putting her down and watching them roll her away. He followed, only faintly hearing himself demand that he ride with her to the hospital. 

As he stepped into the ambulance, he spotted Unkar Plutt in cuffs being shoved into the back of a cop car. It almost made him grin. 

The ride was a silent one. Ben was given a mask to breathe into as he sat beside Rey. There was minimal chatter among the paramedics but all Ben could focus on was her. There was a ringing in his ears and he didn’t even realize he was crying until one of his tears dropped onto Rey’s hand that he was firmly clasping.

He cursed himself. He was enraged at himself for not getting there sooner or allowing her to continue to work there. He never wanted to try and control her life but as a result of not pleading with her to quit, this happened. From now on he’d make sure she was always in a safe environment at least. 

He whispered reassurances to her and himself as he kissed the back of her hand repeatedly. He couldn’t get enough of her now, not after he’d just almost lost her forever. It was a grieving feeling he never wanted to experience again. He couldn’t imagine his life without her and he almost had to go through it. There would never be enough punishment in his mind for the man who made this happen. Plutt would rot in jail and Ben wouldn’t rest until that was assured.

It felt like only a second had gone by when they pulled up to the hospital. His hand was pulled from Rey’s as they rushed her inside and it felt like all of his adrenaline had immediately diminished. 

He could only hope he got there in time. 

“Sir?” He turned to face a paramedic speaking to him. “You should follow us to get those checked on.” She gestured to the burns all over his arms. There were holes in his clothes with burned skin showing. He’d been so caught up in Rey that he hadn’t noticed the extent of his injuries. 

Ben nodded and followed her inside where they treated his burns. It hurt like hell but he imagined Rey and the fact that he’d probably get to see her soon. That got him through it. He imagined her bright smile when he’d walk in the room. She’d put on a brave face like she always did even though pain consumed her senses. It was one of the endless things he loved about her. 

They pumped him full of painkillers to ease the pain and Ben was given medicine and ointment to tend to the wound every day. He would have to come back for a follow up soon after but he was grateful that his injuries were pretty minor compared to what could’ve happened. 

Afterwards, Ben sat in the waiting room for some time while he waited for updates on Rey. The doctor had informed him that she had a couple small third degree burns and more second degree ones. They weren’t bad enough to require grafting and he was thankful for that. He knew Rey would be too.

Based on what they told him, Ben assumed that she’d be okay in the long run but it didn’t stop it from worrying. His heart was palpitating wildly. What if she stopped breathing and they couldn’t get her back? Or something just went completely wrong and she left him for the afterlife? Every second he spent sitting in that chair, his anxiety rose and it was hard to calm it down. Nothing could prevent him from thinking of Rey no matter how hard he tried to think positively about other things. His mind was simply stuck on her just like he was.

So when the doctor returned a few hours later and said “She’s awake and asking for you,” he literally cried of joy. His eyes were still bleary as he entered her room and as soon as he saw her gorgeous eyes gazing into his, he lost it and rushed to her side. 

Ben clutched her to his chest, careful not to touch any of her wounds. His tears dampened the crown of her head and he felt hers leaking onto his shoulder. Her arms wrapped around his torso and he held her like she’d vanish any second.

No words were spoken for a while until Rey whimpered a soft, “I’m sorry…”

Her voice was hoarse. Ben pulled back immediately and for a moment Rey thought he was mad at her but his worried eyes said otherwise. “Sweetheart you have _ nothing _ to apologize for. Absolutely nothing.” He shook his head. “It was that bastard who put you in there and probably his fault for the fire too. Please don’t feel responsible, because you aren’t in any way.”

“Are you okay?” She asked after noticing his bandages.

“Yes, I’m completely fine. Don’t worry about me.”

  
  


Rey nodded and more tears leaked from her eyes. “I was s-so scared, Ben. I thought I wasn’t going to see you or anyone else ever again.” Rey’s words were cut off when Ben pulled her into his chest again, shushing her and rocking back and forth. 

“It’s okay, you’re okay and I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. And Maz should be here soon too.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

Ben said silent prayers as he held her. He couldn’t be more thankful that she was okay but it still felt all too real. He was so close to not having her to lean on anymore. He would never wake up to her silly good morning texts or fall asleep to her quiet snores. Thinking of all the things he’d have to go without made the tears keep coming and it remained that way for a decent amount of time. 

“Ben,” her voice was muffled since she was pressed against him. “What is it, sweetheart?” He questioned after sensing the distress in his tone. “I- I lost most of my stuff. A ton of my clothes were there and my phone and-”

“Shhhh,” he quieted her. “I’ll buy you new things.”

“But I-”

“No  _ buts. _ Let me do this for you.” He said as he stroked her hair. 

He wished he couldn’t say it, but he always had it easier than Rey when it came to home life. He didn’t have to worry about money much since his mother was a Senator but he always helped Rey even if she didn’t ask for it. He wanted to make her happy any way he could so he’d get her food and clothes just because he wanted to. She always glared at him at first when he gave it to her but knew she was thankful. 

They remained in each other’s embrace for a while before Ben thought that he should bring up the one thing he really needed to address. “Rey?” She pulled away to look up at him. He swallowed. “You know I love that you’ve found something you love to do. And I love how determined you are in your work and that you try so hard everyday at it. I’ve never wanted to interfere with it because it makes you happy but I’m begging you… please don’t go back there? I know finding a job as a mechanic at your age is tough but you have a high skill and I promise to help you and-”

“Ben.” She halted his monologue. His eyes stopped moving at a ridiculous pace and focused on her. It looked like she was on the verge of cracking up laughing and he couldn’t place the reason. “First of all, I’m guessing the place is gone now and even if it’s not, it’s gonna take a hell of a long time to repair and a hell of a lot of money. Money that Plutt doesn’t have. Which brings me to my second point. There’s no way he’ll be in business after a stunt like that.”

Ben silently agreed as he recalled the sight of seeing his hands tied in front of him.

“Third, even if I had the opportunity to go back, I wouldn’t. I know how much you despised that I worked there and I should’ve considered that. Trust me, I hope I never see the site again.”

A heavy breath of relief escaped Ben’s lips which emancipated a chuckle from Rey. “But how did you… I never said anything?” Rey smiled. “It’s easy to read someone you’re so in love with.” 

Ben’s chest puffed with pride and she patted his shoulder. “Easy there big guy,” she laughed. “But I promise that I want nothing to do with that place anymore. Even if it goes back into business at some point. I don’t care if I work in the industry ever again or until after I graduate. It’s not worth it. As long as I’ve got you, I’ve got my work cut out for me,” she teased. 

A smile formed on Ben’s features and he leaned down slightly to press a quick but passionate kiss to her lips. He would kiss her every day for the rest of his life and die a happy man, he knew it. 

“I’m gonna love you and your adorable self until the end of time, you know that?” He whispered as he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

Rey leaned in slightly to press their foreheads together. She clamped her eyes shut as she took in the moment. “I know,” she smiled. “I will too.”

And so they did.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out my other works!
> 
> [Not What You Wanted: Modern Reylo Au; multi-chapter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24651070/chapters/59561875)
> 
> [You Mighty, Submissive Soul: Kylo Ren x Reader; multi-chapter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27085606/chapters/66136342)
> 
> [Where's My Love: Modern Reylo AU; 4 chapters & completed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25006921/chapters/60552919)


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